Protective eyeshield for helmets

ABSTRACT

AN EYESHIELD ASSEMBLY DETACHABLY SECURABLE TO THE BRIM OF A HELMET. THE ASSEMBLY INCLUDES A FIXED SUPPORT BRACKET HAVING SCREW CLAMPS ON EACH END FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE BRIM OF A HELMET AND A MOVABLE BRACKET PIVOTALLY MOUNTED UPON THE FIXED SUPPORT BRACKET. A TRANSPARENT SHIELD IS MOUNTED ON THE MOVABLE SUPPORT AND MAMY BE LOWERED TO A EYE-SHIELDING POSITION OR RAISED TO A RETRACTED POSITION OUT OF THE LINE-OF-SUGAR OF THE WATER AND BENEATH A PROTECTIVE COVER WHICH IS MOUNTED ON THE FIXED SUPPORT BRACKET TO PROTECT THE TRANSPARENT SHIELD AGAINST BECOMING SCRATCHED WHILE NOT IN USE.

Sept. 20, 1971 s. HANLE|N ETAL 3,605,114

PROTECTIVE EYESHIELD FOR HELMETS v Filed April 6. 1970 John F. Quinlan Stuart L. Hanlein INVENTQRS ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,605,114 PROTECTIVE EYESHIELD FOR HELMETS Stuart L. Hanlein, College Park, Md., and John F.

Quinlan, Jacksonville, N.C., assignors to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed Apr. 6, 1970, Ser. No. 25,941 Int. Cl. A61f 9/04 US. Cl. 2-10 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An eyeshield assembly detachably securable to the brim of a helmet. The assembly includes a fixed support bracket having screw clamps on each end for engagement with the brim of a helmet and a movable bracket pivotally mounted upon the fixed support bracket. A transparent shield is mounted on the movable support and may be lowered to a eye-shielding position or raised to a retracted position out of the line-of-sight of the wearer and beneath a protective cover which is mounted on the fixed support bracket to protect the transparent shield against becoming scratched while not in use.

BACKGROUND OF'THE INVENTION The invention relates generally to protective headwear and more particularly to a detachable eyeshield assembly for use on helmets.

In the military, helmets are worn to protect the head against injury from blows by heavy objects or flying projectiles but the wearers eyes remain unprotected. In addition to these dangers, the wearer of the helmet is also exposed to other hazards which are normally not injurious to the rest of the body but are dangerous to the eyes such as, small particles of flying debris and also by projecting branches, bushes, tree limbs and other obstacles. In other environments, various protective devices for the eyes have been worn, such as the goggles and face masks used by welders and other industrial workers. It has been found, however, that since goggles contact the face, they become uncomfortable when worn over prolonged periods of time and as a result, many workers abandon their goggles and carelessly expose their eyes to the hazards of their environment. Protective visors which mount on a hat and project in front of a part or all of the face without contacting the face, have been used in industry but generally have not been satisfactory for all conditions of operations. Many of the visors are permanently mounted on a hat and thus cannot be removed from the hat during periods when the hat is worn in areas where no eye hazards are present. Other visors are designed in such a manner as to require permanent structural modification to the hat to facilitate mounting of the visor on the hat. Still other visors do not have a satisfactory means for retaining the visor in a retracted position out of the line-of-sight of the wearer when not in use nor do they provide any means for protecting the visor from becoming scratched while in its retracted position. Such visors are often scratched while the hat is worn with the visor in the retracted position, during handling, when the hat is removed and placed upon a hard or abrasive object and also during periods of storage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved eyeshield for use on headwear.

Another object of the invention is ot provide a protective eyeshield assembly which may be detachably mounted upon a helmet without requiring modification of the helmet structure, which locks the eyeshield in a ice retracted position when not in use, and protects the eyeshield against becoming scratched and marred while in its retracted position.

According to the present invention, the foregoing and other objects are attained by providing a fixed support bracket, which may be clamped to the brim of a helmet, and a transparent eyeshield mounted on a movable bracket, which is pivotally connected to the fixed bracket for movement into either an eyeshielding position in the line-of-sight of the viewer or into a retracted position above the forward portion of the helmet. The invention also includes a protective cover which is mounted upon the fixed support and extends over the eyeshield while in its retracted position. The fixed and movable brackets of this invention additionally cooperate to provide a releasable locking mechanism for retaining the eyeshield in its retracted position and yet permitting the eyeshield to be readily moved to the shielding position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the eyeshield assembly mounted upon a helmet, only the forward portion of which is shown; and

FIG. 2 is a front view of the eyeshield assembly with the transparent eyeshield and its protective cover removed for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the clamping and support structure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, the front portion of a helmet 11 is shown its peripheral flange or brim 12 having a rounded bead 13 on the edge of the brim. The illustrated helmet is representative of the helmets presently worn by military personnel. Mounted on the helmet is a detachable protective eyeshield assembly, shown generally at 14, which is so constructed that a transparent protective eyeshield 15 may be selectively positioned either in front of the eyes of a wearer, as shown in FIG. 1, or alternatively, when the shield is not required, may be moved to a retracted position beneath a shield cover 16 above the forward portion of the helmet. The eyeshield 15 may be fabricated from various transparent materials such as, for example, tempered safety glass, cellulose acetate, polycarbonate and other transparent plastics. Shields formed of polycarbonate have been found to afford better impact protection than most other transparent materials for any given thickness. The protective cover 16 may be formed of the same material as the eyeshield 15 or may be made from metal and other impact resistant materials. In FIG. 1, the protective cover 16 is shown as being transparent merely to better illustrate the surrounding structure.

The protective cover 16 is supported in the position shown in FIG. 1 by a fixed support bracket 17 which i detachably secured to the brim of the helmet by a pair f clamps 18 at opposed ends of the bracket 17. The clamps 18 may be integrally formed on the ends of the bracket 17 or may be separate elements attached to the bracket by any suitable conventional means. The clamps 18, which are more clearly shown in FIG. 2, each have a generally U-shaped configuration to define a slot or groove 22 which receives the brim of a helmet.

Each clamp is also provided with a pair of thumb screws 23 which are received in threaded apertures formed in the base of each clamp. By tightening the thumb screws 23, which are additionally provided with slotted head portions for operation by screw-drivers or other tools, the fixed support bracket 17 is rigidly secured to the brim of the helmet. The clamps 18 are so 6011- figured as to extend downwardly and outwardly with respect to the fixed support member 17 with the open end of slots 22 extending upwardly and inwardly to receive the brim of the helmet, and the clamps are angularly offset with respect to the bracket 17 so that when the assembly is clamped onto the helmet, bracket 17 extends over the forward portion of the helmet and holds the shield cover 16 in the position shown in FIG. 1 just above the brim of the helmet.

The bracket 17 is also provided with a pair of laterally extending tabs 24 at the base of the bracket adjacent the clamps and a movable bracket 19 is pivotally secured to the tab portions 24 by any suitable pivot such as rivets 21, hinge pins or other rotatable couplings. The transparent eyeshield is mounted on the movable bracket 19 and thus may be positioned in front of the eyes of the wearer, as shown in FIG. 1, or maybe rotatably moved upwardly into a retracted position beneath the shield cover 16. In the retracted position, the movable bracket 19 assumes a position adjacent, parallel to, and just hind the bracket 17, this position being shown in phantom by numeral 19' in FIG. 1.

To hold the eyeshield 15 in its retracted position beneath the protective cover 16, each leg of the fixed support bracket 17 is provided with an offset detent portion 26 which extends partially into the path of the movable bracket 19. To move the eyeshield 15 from the position shown in FIG. 1 to the retracted position, the m vabl bracket 19 rotates about the rivets 21 and as the bracket 19 travels upwardly into engagement wtih the detent 26, the detent causes the bracket 19 to flex inwardly and to slide over the detent. When the movable bracket 19 reaches the fully retracted position shown in phantom in 1 FIG. 1 by numeral 19', the deflected legs of the m va bracket move out of engagement with the detent 26 and spring back to their original Shape. In this fully retracted position, the lower edge 28 of the movable bracket rests upon the upper edges 29 of the detent 26 which thereby prevents the movable bracket from moving out of its retracted position. Additionally, the laterally extending tabs 24 are provided with inwardly extending flanges 27, as seen in FIG. 2, which function as limit stops to pr v n the movable bracket 19 from travelling in an upward direction beyond the position 19" shown in phantom. The stop members 27 and the detents 26 respectively engage opposite sides or edges of the movable bracket 19 and thereby cooperate to retain the bracket 19 and eyeshield 15 in the retracted position.

When it is desired to move the eyeshield into the operative position, the wearer of the helmet need only to grasp the bracket in the vicinity of the detent 26 and apply a small force to bracket 19 in an inward direction sufficient to deflect the legs of the movable bracket to the extent necessary to slide over the detent 26. When moved to the operative position in the line-of-sight of the viewer, the transparent eyeshield is extended in front of the face of the wearer and partially curves around the side of the face to provide good protection to the eyes against injury from foreign objects. The eyeshield in its operative position preferably extends from a point above the brim of the helmet to a position just above the mouth of the wearer and may be provided with a cut-out portion to avoid contact with the nose, thus assuring good protection to the eyes while avoiding contact with any portion of the face.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that applicants have provided a new and improved eyeshield assembly which may be easily attached to a helmet Without modifying the helmet structure and which may be readily detached from the helmet when the device is not required. It will also be seen that the eyeshield assembly of this invention includes a simple but elfective mechanism to hold the eyeshield in a retracted position above the helmet during periods when the eyeshield is not required. The device further includes a protective cover 16 Which Pr vents the transparent eyeshield 15 from becoming scratched or otherwise disfigured while the device is in its retracted position and when it is not being worn. The eyeshield of this invention does not come in contact with the wearers face and therefore provides adequate air circulation for comfort of the wearer and avoids fogging of the eyeshield by condensation which otherwise might occur in the absence of adequate circulation. The eyeshield of this invention also permits the wearer to use corrective eyeglasses if necessary without discomfort or interference by the protective eyeshield.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States of America is:

1. An eyeshield assembly for use on a helmet comprising a fixed support bracket,

clamping means attached to said fixed support bracket for clamping engagement with opposed edge portions of the helmet to detachably mount said fixed support bracket above the forward external portion of the helmet,

a movable support bracket pivotally mounted on said fixed support bracket,

a transparent impact resistant eyeshield mounted on said mo vable support bracket for pivotal movement therewith between a first position in front of the face of the wearer of the helmet and a second position above the face of the wearer,

a protective guard for said eyeshield,

said guord being at least as large as said eyeshield and being mounted on said fixed support bracket in a position to cover said eyeshield when said eyeshield is in its second position,

each of said support brackets including a cured section, the curved section of said fixed support bracket having a larger radius of curvature than the curved section of said movable support bracket; and

said fixed support bracket having dent means formed formed thereon and extending partially into the path of travel of said movable support bracket.

2. An eyeshield assembly for use on a helmet comprising a fixed support bracket,

clamping means attached to said fixed support bracket for clamping engagement with opposed edge portions of the helmet to detachably mount said fixed support bracket above the forward external portion of the helmet,

said clamping means including a pair of U-shaped members each formed on opposed ends of said fixed support bracket to define slots for receiving the brim of the helmet,

each of said U-shaped members having through apertures formed therein with set screws received in said through apertures for operative clamping engagement with a brim of the helmet,

a movable support bracket pivotally mounted on said fixed support bracket,

a transparent impact resistant eyeshield mounted on said movoble support bracket for pivotal movement therewith between a first position in front of the face of the wearer of the helmet and a second position above the face of the wearer,

a protective guard for said eyeshield,

said guard being at least as large as said eyeshield and being mounted on said fixed support bracket in a position to cover said eyeshield when said eyeshield is in its second position.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein each of said support brackets includes a curved section formed between a pair of substantially straight leg portions,

the leg portions of said fixed support bracket include rearwardly extending tab portions, and

wherein said movable support bracket being pivotally mounted on said tab portions.

4. The device of claim 3 further comprising stop means formed on said tabs to limit the extent of movement of the movable support bracket toward said second position.

5. The device of claim 4 further comprising detent means formed on at least one leg of one of said support brackets and extending partially into the path of the other support bracket,

said detent means and said stop means being so posi- '6 tioned to yieldingly retain said eyeshield in its retracted position by engaging opposed sides of said movable support bracket.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,718,006 9/1955 Bowers 210 2,834,017 5/1958 Simpson et a1. 210 3,383,706 5/1968 Lobelle 2l0X 3,430,262 3/ 1969 Raschke 2l0X FOREIGN PATENTS 945,756 1/1964 Great Britain 210 951,817 3/ 1964 Great Britain 2-6 H. HAMPTON HUNTER, Primary Examiner 

